Wood-wind reed



1949 A. L. OHNHAUS 2,492,355

WOOD-WIND REED Filed Jan. 17, 1947 Fig.3

Elm/09mm ALFRED L. OH/Yf/A US Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WOOD-WIND REED Alfred L. Ohnhaus, White Plains, N. Y.

Application January 17, 1947, Serial No. 722,499

1 Claim.

This invention relates to reeds for woodwind musical instruments and more particularly and specifically to a new and improved construction and relative to those reeds comprising the present prior art.

The primary object of this invention resides in the provision of a woodwind reed which has greatly improved vibration qualities producing a superior tone with a greater blowing ease than those reeds now in use comprising the prior art.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a woodwind reed in which all surplus thickness and mass has been eliminated thus permitting total vibration for the entire length of the reed evading the choking of vibration at the center of the reed as is inherent in the reeds now known and in use.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a woodwind musical instrument reed which is so constructed as to allow any standard ligature to hold the reed firmly to the mouthpiece without contacting and pressing on the vital vibrating part of the reed.

Still a further object of this invention resides in the provision of a reed of the character described which is simply and inexpensively constructed in varied sizes for various woodwind instruments, and a reed which is equally as durable and long lasting in use as the presently used reeds.

Still further improvements and advantages of this invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art when the following description is read in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the reed.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the reed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of this invention and in which like numerals indicate similar parts throughout the drawings, a woodwind reed is disclosed in the various views set forth.

The illustrated concept comprises in general a reed of cane, Bakelite, plastic or other suitable and satisfactory woodwind instrument reed material embodying an elongated rectangular memher A of said material having a wafer thin tongue portion graduating from the outer end thereof to its greatest point of thickness 2 at a point substantially three-eighths the length of the reed from the tongue tip. This thicker point originates in a semicircular ridge 3 inwardly curved toward the center of the reed body 4 which extends in a tapering thickness throughout the remainder of the length of the reed body.

The reed bottom 5 extends in a fiat plane throughout the length of the reed and the top of the reed body 4 is a flat surface 6 tapering slightly downwardly from the ridge 2 to the end of the body 4.

The longitudinal top edges of the reed body 4 are beveled angularly downwardly as at 8 to the bottom edges 9 forming pointed edges thereon.

The reed as illustrated is substantially one-half as thick as the thinnest reed now in use at its thickest point and having the conventional thick heart or heavy back eliminated in favor of the ultra-thin tapering body as disclosed permitting the reed to be firmly secured to the mouth piece by the contact of the ligature with the beveled edges along the length of the reed body eliminating the choking of the vibrations of the reed at their center by the conventional contact of the ligature therewith.

Thus it may be seen that a new and improved reed having improved tone and blowing qualities has been provided by this invention.

Having thus described and explained the construction and function of this invention and with full belief that modifications in size. materials and general characteristics would not constitute a departure from the spirit of this invention what I desire to claim in Letters Patent is:

I claim:

A reed for a woodwind musical instrument having a ligature for securing a reed in place on a mouthpiece, said reed comprising a vibratory body having a plan shape of a generally conventional reed, said body having a plane bottom surface and a top surface which has portions declining toward the opposite ends of said body from an intermediate point, one of said declining surface portions meeting the related end of said body in a manner to define a fine feather edge thereon, beveled edges along the side edges of the other of said declining surface portions engageable with the ligature for securing said reed on a mouthpiece with the entire portion of said other declining surface between said beveled edges being spaced from engagement with the ligature.

ALFRED L. OHNHAUS.

(References on following page) 3' REFERENCES CITED 2 333 5 The following references are of record in the 2,237,529 file of this patent: 2,296,737 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2411380 2 32226 M333 DetP 1935 Number Italy June 1934 

